Love in a hopeless place?
by The Klaine Purist
Summary: A virus mutated and changed the world. Now there are no adult and the kids manage as best they could. Kurt is a valued member of the Amazone tribe but yearns for something different. Blaine lives in his family group in the forrests. Will our boys meet in this hard and cruel world, and how much time will they have together if they do? Warnings: Character death and Adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

_I've wanted to write this story for a while and some of it is already written. I felt like posting this first chapter even though the story is not finished, just to see if people liked my idea. This fic is AU and the story is inspired by the tv series called The Tribe. It is probably set in today or a not so distant future, but something has happened to the world as we know it. _

**Nobody noticed the day the world changed. There was no explosion, no grand reveal, there were no aliens or supernatural takeover. The day the world changed people went to work, quarrelled with their spouses, kids teased each other, babies were born and in a laboratory in an unknown town a medical researcher looked into the microscope and found that the virus they were using to trying to create a new medication had mutated.**

Kurt rounded a large pile of garbage that nearly blocked the street to find to find two little kids fighting over what looked like a dead pigeon. It was impossible to say if they were boys or girls, they both had long dirty hair and were dressed in rags. If he had to put an age to them Kurt would say they were eight, maybe nine, years old. The two of them were probably strays, easily discerned by the state of their clothes and their age. Kids that young had been born right at the end and it was a miracle that they had even survived. Most of them were wild if they hadn't found a tribe that would take them in.

Very carefully Kurt started to back up to get out of their sight should they notice him. Sure, they were little kids, but there were two of them and there was something definitely feral about them.

His foot brushed up against something, making a rattling noise, and the heads of the two kids snapped up in his direction. It was a motion so eerily animal-like that Kurt didn't think, he just reacted. Spinning around, he took off down the street, skidding around turns and running flat out until his vision started to blur. In the beginning he thought he heard small feet chasing him, but then all he could hear was the sound of his own heaving breath.

Kurt threw himself against a wall, his chest heaving and heart beating unnaturally fast. It seemed like he had lost his two pursuers, but he had no idea where he was. Carefully looking around he found a red dragon head marked on the corner of one of the buildings opposite him. Good, at least he wasn't too far away from his own tribe. The Dragons were a tough crowd, but they were loyal to the Amazones and their leader, Lauren. Kurt was an Amazone, one of the few male members of the tribe and the only one not working in the pleasure house. Lauren had taken one look at Kurt when he came to her begging to get a place in her tribe and told him no. "What am I gonna use you for," she had told him, "you're a boy, and a small one at that. I'd have to feed you for years before you can be of any use to me and with those matchstick arms I can't put you to work at the farms." Kurt had sniffed a little but refused to cry. Instead he had looked out over the chaotic warehouse where Lauren kept court. There were so much stuff in there, valuable stuff that the Amazones guarded fiercely. All the food and other remnants of Before was what gave the Amazones their power. They had been the first to get organised and before the other kids had known it they had taken control over the docks and the farms outside the city. They had also drawn up an agreement for passage and mutual benefits with one of the other tribes, the Dragons, who had been living in the area between the harbour and the farms the Amazones didn't control. Back then Kurt had looked out over the riches and got an idea. "I can work here," he had said with an eager smile. "I can help you organise and keep control over the stock. I can make sure that the stuff that will expire first gets sold first and I can keep count so nothing goes missing without you knowing about it." He stood up straight and looked up at Lauren who was watching him with a thoughtful expression.

It had taken him a couple of more weeks of badgering Lauren about his idea but she had eventually caved.

So now Kurt was Lauren's right hand man, and everyone knew who he was. He was notorious, he was the weird boy who hadn't turned into a man. Sure, Kurt had grown up, he knew he had, it was just that at fifteen he still had the high voice and smooth skin of a much younger boy. Most kids were kind of freaked out by him, but not Lauren. So Kurt was the only male member of the Amazones that worked with his head and not his muscles, and it suited him fine. He loved to organise the warehouses and he managed to keep track of everything with very little effort. It was the lack of effort that had made him venture out in the city today. Recently he had been bored out of his mind, not even rearranging the meagre supply of clothes they had at the warehouses had managed to get him out of his funk. Now as he made his way through the rubble in streets he silently wished he had kept to what he knew and done his job instead of getting it into his head that he wanted to go exploring. This wasn't him, no he belonged in the warehouses.

The city kids came to the warehouses to barter for things like food, batteries or clothing. They had to have something to barter with of course, something of value and Kurt had developed hard skin from having to turn down little kids with grubby fists that held a yoyo or a toy figurine, those things had no value. Instead he sent them over to the employment line so that they could earn themselves some credits.

Lauren's empire employed between ten and twenty kids on a day basis, to clean or sweep the streets, those kinds of things. The Amazones themselves took care of things like security and transportation, but none of the girls in the tribe cleaned. The food they sold was transported in from the farms outside the city that were under Amazone control.

Then there was the pleasure house, where kids came to unwind, play games and drink. Alcoholism was a growing problem in the city, but Lauren said that she couldn't control what people chose to do with their bodies, she just supplied what everyone wanted. That was another thing the pleasure house was notorious for, men.

Sure, Before none of them would have been more than teenage boys, now, they were so few and Lauren had some of the best looking ones dancing in her club. Most of them did more than dancing, but Kurt chose not to think about that. He tried not to think about the men at all, but it was beyond difficult when he bumped into them at the club when Lauren demanded his presence, or at the Amazone compound, an old high school. Always scantily clad, blond Sam, dark haired Mike or the newest, Jake, were distractions on two legs. Kurt knew they were off limits, but it was hard not to look at their abs or their arms or any other part of them really.

Kurt knew that he was gay, a homosexual, but there really wasn't any room for homosexuality in this world. It wasn't that it was frowned upon or that people thought it was wrong. It was just that if you were a guy and wanted status, you needed to be into girls. The girls had the power, made the laws and controlled the tribes. Boys had only one thing to contribute to society, their bodies. Of course there were individuals such as Kurt, who managed to create a place for themselves in spite of everything, but they were few and far apart, and they were also always working for a woman. Boys were fewer and had shorter live spans. Even now years after the last adult had died, boys would fall ill when they were around nineteen or twenty and after a painful month in bed they would grow weak and die. The girls didn't, at least not yet anyway. Lauren had told Kurt that she knew of women who were twenty-four now. Twenty-four, it was so unfair, Kurt thought. He wanted to live too, instead he had this ticking clock hanging over his head counting down to his nineteenth year. Maybe that was why he was so restless? He wanted to live, to experience as much of life as he could before he would die. Recently there was something else he wanted as well, there was a yearning inside him that kept on growing. He would look at Sam in his tiny shorts or Mike as he danced and there was this hunger inside him that was almost painful. He kept waking up in the middle of the night, painfully hard or sticky after a release. The want kept itching under his skin, and Kurt desperately wanted to share himself with someone. He would watch Lauren and her man Puck when they thought no one were watching, and Kurt would ache with the longing to touch someone with such familiarity, to communicate like those two did, without words.

Kurt caught a whiff of the salty tanginess of the sea and soon he started to see the black woman's head, the mark of the Amazones, on the buildings around him. The rubble in the street was gone now, the Amazones part of the city was cleaned and cleared, instead the rubbish was gathered to make barricades effectively fencing in their part of the city, keeping the ways in to a minimum and therefore the rabble easier to control. Kurt would have passed a guard-post as he entered Amazone territory, but sometimes they were cleverly hidden and did not make themselves known unless you were unknown to them, and Kurt was most definitely known.

When Kurt stepped into the warehouse he was immediately flanked by Puck. "She is not pleased with your disappearance," he said quietly and Kurt sighed. The butch teenage boy looked frazzled and it was obvious who had been on the receiving end of Lauren's anger in his absence. Kurt followed the older boy through the large room filled with shelves and into the tiny back room where Lauren presided whenever she was in the warehouse.

"Where the fuck have you been, Hummel!" Lauren roared. Getting up from the chair she was sitting in and got right up in his face. "You are my guy, and you do as I tell you. Did I tell you to go gallivanting around the city?"

Kurt shook his head.

Lauren cast a glance at Puck. "Get out Puck."

The boy with the Mohawk scrambled to get out the door and it shut with a bang, making the glass in the little window rattle.

"What the hell were you thinking of Kurt? I know you're a big boy now, but it's dangerous out there." Lauren's voice had softened some now that they were alone.

"I just wanted to go scavenge for myself for once. I haven't gone in months and I miss it." Kurt lied, meeting Laurens eyes defiantly.

"There's a reason for that you nitwit. You are needed here; nobody can keep the warehouses going like you. You are too valuable to me to go running around town. Where were you anyway?"

Kurt couldn't keep looking at her when he said; "Out past Dragon territory."

"You idiot!" Lauren smacked him over the head. "Nobody patrols that part, what if someone had attacked you?"

Kurt didn't tell her about the two feral little kids, he just nodded his head leaving his eyes downcast.

"I'm sorry that I worried you and it won't happen again."

"Hah," Lauren laughed, "make me a promise you can actually keep."


	2. Chapter 2

Blaine looked out over the forest from his perch high up in the massive oak tree. From up here he could see out over the valley under him and all the way to the sea. The forest stretched out all around him. The tall oak was on top of a hill and a great wave of green spread down the steep incline before it thinned out and slowly became spotted with farmland before the green gave way to the grey of the city. Blaine strained his eyes to take a last look at the blue of the ocean glinting far off before he let his concentration go back to roaming the countryside. He had sharp eyes and his memory was infallible, so he was an excellent lookout. He took in the landscape before him, but could not find any changes since yesterday. '_Good, that meant that their little community was still safe_.'

Slipping off the thick branch he had been straddling he found the next foothold with his bare feet and clung to the coarse bark with his fingertips, slowly letting himself slip down until his feet came to rest on the huge branch further down the trunk. Then it was a case of climbing down until the branches stopped a bit above the forest floor. Hanging by his hands Blaine let himself go and felt a few seconds of tingling vertigo before he landed in the moss.

"Hawk!"

Blaine almost fell over in surprise but managed to catch himself and instead he spun around to find his best friend looking at him.

"Shroom, what are you doing, you aren't supposed to be out here on the edges?" The slightly dreamy looking girl gave him a little smile before she almost danced over and took his hand.

"Starburst read the signs again and said that this time they are clear. Our union will bring a healthy cub, so I came to find you."

Suddenly Blaine felt empty inside. It was such a transformation, one minute being filled with happiness, love, pride and security, and suddenly this emptiness, it felt like a physical pain. He had known this would happen, that as a male member of the tribe he had to do his part to secure a future, and the future meant cubs.

Blaine knew there was something wrong with him for not wanting this; after all it was Shroom, his best friend. He should be thankful that the signs had told Starburst it was her and not any of the other girls for his first mating. Shroom was safe, Shroom was beautiful, so why didn't he want to mate with Shroom?

All of this, his doubts, his nerves, made his mind a complete chaos as he was led deeper into the woods by the girl. He followed her until the girl stopped in front of a large evergreen with branches that swept the ground. Letting go of his hand, Shroom used both of her hands to part the curtain of green needles and they both passed into the dimly lit burrow between the branches and the trunk. The ground was soft and covered in fir needles and Shroom found a blanket that someone (presumably Shroom) had left folded on a root. The girl spread the soft cloth over the needles and Blaine's mouth suddenly went dry and his hands were clammy. '_This is really happening_.' He thought, '_I am going to lie down with Shroom and mate, and then hopefully there will be a baby_.'

He felt incredibly clumsy when he pulled off his worn green sweater and started pulling down his soft leather pants. All his clothes were old, their family tried to be self sufficient but nobody had anything to make new clothes from, so they gathered what they could from Before and altered it until it was so worn it ripped in the wind.

Blaine stood there, naked, and looked down on Shroom. She had lain down on the blanket and now she held out a hand to him. Sinking down on his knees beside her Blaine wet his lips nervously.

"I don't know if I can do this Shroom."

The girl gave him one of her dreamy smiles; she let their fingers twine together.

"You are my best friend Hawk. I love you and you love me. I will help you and you will help me, we will do this together."

Blaine sighed and let himself sink down next to Shroom. Her skin was soft and her eyes were blue, and so beautiful. He let himself feel her, tried to do as Stag had told him and let the feeling travel inside him down to his groin.

Nothing happened. It just felt wrong, feeling her breast was wrong, her soft belly was wrong, her silky thighs was wrong… tears escaped from Blaine's eyes, why couldn't he do this. He was a man, he had changed so much in the past year, his body was ready for this, why didn't it work?

"Hawk, what's wrong?" Shroom whispered in his ear. They were so close now, closer than they had ever been and he had never felt further away from her.

"It's not working," Blaine said, shame flushing his face.

"Maybe you just need a little help?" Shroom said, placing a hand on his chest and gently pushing him down so that he lay on his back.

"Vixen says I have magical hands. Close your eyes and let your mind just drift. Don't think about what we are about to do, just relax. Do you want to chew some herbs just in case my hands have lost their magic?"

Blaine nodded, he had to do this, then he closed his eyes as Shroom searched her pouch and came back with something that she tickled his lips with. Opening he chewed and swallowed the small roots and then he let himself drift. He trusted Shroom with his life and he would trust her now. Hands were touching him, teasing his body, finding places where he would respond with a gasp or a giggle. The hands moved down, tracing the inside of his thighs, flickering softly over his balls and up his cock. Something was happening, he felt it now. A stirring inside him and he knew he was getting harder. Blaine felt elated with relief, it was working. For a moment he faltered because reality tried to poke its way in, but then the hands kept going and… it felt _good. _Letting out a moan Blaine felt his cock twitch and then there was movement, and skin. The hands held him steady, and then warmth, slippery warmth and '_fuck that felt good'_. The hands were gone, but that didn't matter because he could thrust into the tightness and something was building and building… stars exploded on the inside of Blaine's eyelids as he came.

When he came back into his own body, he felt like he had hiked for weeks, his legs felt boneless. He opened his eyes and turned his head to Shroom. She had a strange expression on her face, one he had never seen before.

"Are you all right?" he asked, gently reaching out for her hand.

"I think we need to do it again," she said, "it didn't feel right. When Vixen did it, it felt different. Also, we need to be sure… can you go again?"

Blaine had to take a moment, but after just lying there and feeling for a while he nodded and he knew that it was different now. Sure it didn't feel right when he climbed on top of Shroom and he had to keep from looking at her breasts and not down on what he was actually doing. However, the sensation that first time was so addictive and he wanted to be back in that place so much that he found that he didn't need any help this time around.

They spent the night in that burrow; both teenagers were too spent to want to walk back in the dark. They had managed to mate two more times after that first one and Shroom had said that the last one felt right, so they had let themselves drift off. Blaine woke before Shroom and spent some time on his back just looking up into the dark green dome above them. He knew that he was now the man of the family. Stag had only a year left before he was twenty and would probably get The Illness. Knowing Stag he would most likely go up to the high cliff before that and step off the ledge so he would not become a burden to the family. That left Blaine to be the man. He knew that meant mating with most of the girls and women, but he could do that now. Couldn't he?

There was still that flickering doubt, that feeling of wrongness when he thought about what was in store for the rest of his life. He was still young, he had six more years, was that what he wanted to do with them? He loved his family and would do anything for them, so why did he feel like crying?

The next morning Blaine headed back to the great oak to look out over the valley again. He thought he saw people moving on one of the farmsteads closest to the forest, but that was nothing new. He also saw a trail of dust coming from the city. That happened regularly too. It was obvious that the farms grew food for people living in the city, but why anyone would want to live in the city Blaine couldn't understand. Why didn't they just all live on farms where it was green and they had plenty of food. He found himself wondering what it was like in the city now. He only had vague memories from Before and the frightening times when everyone was ill. He had been five years old when his parents had died. First his father had just dropped his head down on the desk in his home office and not raised it again, a few days later his mother hadn't got up in the morning.

Blaine wiped away a few tears that came to his eyes remembering his parents. He shuddered as his inner eye saw their cold, staring faces when he had tried to get them to react, to get up, to play with him. He remembered when he decided to be a big boy, it had been when the house started to smell. He had packed his school backpack with some clothes and all the food he could fit in there. Then he had gone into his father's office again, holding his little nose. He had reached into the top drawer of the desk where his father's swiss army knife was and even though he had promised to never ever touch it, he took it out and put it in his pocket.

Blaine had gone out the back door, something that he later learned had been the smartest thing he had done back then. The streets was where people roamed, had he gone out there he would probably had lost all his food to some desperate teenager or older kid.

Instead Blaine stood in his back garden and looked at the wilderness that crept up to the fence. He had taken one look back at his house and then one look towards the forest and decided that the dark green wilderness looked like the safer option. However just as he was about to take a step forward he heard a wail from the neighbours house. He stood there for a moment wondering what to do. One the one hand the noise would draw the attention of scavengers and that meant danger, on the other hand that was a baby crying. Babies needed someone to take care of them and there were no one else around. _I'm a big boy now,_ Blaine thought and just like that he had decided. Creeping towards the house he checked through the porch door, but he couldn't see anyone moving in there. Edging the sliding door open Blaine slid in to the dark house, he kept up against the walls and followed the sounds upstairs. There was no light here either, but the sunlight from the outside shone through the grimy windows and made it possible to see where he was going. He didn't have any problems finding the baby, but when he did Blaine didn't know what to do.

In a chair in the corner sat a woman holding the wailing infant. She was ghostly pale and unmoving. Blaine moved closer, she looked dead, and the baby was crying and smelled almost as bad as his house did. Slowly Blaine reached out to touch the red faced little boy. As his fingers touched the baby's clothes the woman sighed and Blaine jumped backwards. Very slowly the woman lifted her head and Blaine wanted to turn and run, but some unexplainable force held him there. The woman's gaze locked upon Blaine and an emotion passed over her face that Blaine couldn't discern.

"My baby," she whispered and very slowly, like it took every once of strength she had left she held the baby out towards Blaine. His breath hiccupped, but he took two steps forward and found himself with an armful of squirming baby.

"Take him," the woman whispered. Blaine took the unhappy baby from her arms and almost dropped it when he felt how wet it was. He looked around the room and saw a chest of drawers that had baby stuff on top of it. He carefully put the baby on the floor and searched through it, finding diapers, wipes and clothes. Something tugged on his jeans and Blaine almost jumped out of his own skin until he saw that the baby had managed to crawl over to him and was clutching his leg as it whimpered pitifully. Blaine had never changed a baby, but he had seen it on TV so he knew how it was done. The babies on TV didn't smell though, and they sure as hell didn't squirm and have poop all over their butt and down their legs. He did manage to clean the little boy up though and put on some clean clothes. Holding the now silent baby to his chest he approached the woman in the chair again, she looked different somehow.

"Hi," Blaine whispered, "I have your baby…" Nothing happened. Blaine managed to hold on to the baby and still get his hand free so he could touch her. She was cold.

Not like an ice-cream (Blaine could vaguely remember those) more like when his mother had to go out to get the mail in the winter and came back with cold hands.

"Ma-a," the little boy said, stretching to reach his mother. Blaine tried to bend to see her face that was hidden by her hair where she sat slumped over. The staring eyes that didn't see made him jump backwards. Inside Blaine something broke. He looked down at the baby with tears misting up his vision. Somewhere inside him there had been this tiny flicker of hope that the baby's mother would take care of him, even if he had seen that she had looked even worse than mummy had the day before she went to sleep and didn't wake up again. Blaine took the baby with him as he found the bathroom and sat on the tiled floor for a while. _What would happen now? Should he wait for the baby's daddy to come home? Maybe he could leave the baby in the playpen until the daddy came? But, what if the daddy didn't come? _Blaine wiped his runny nose on his sleeve. _He didn't know what to do, he was just a little boy and even if he had helped mummy and daddy when they had got sick he didn't know anything about babies. _A whiny noise roused him from his thoughts and Blaine found the baby had found a wash cloth that it was trying to eat. Removing the cloth to some protest Blaine knew he couldn't leave the baby. That meant waiting, and if he had to wait then he should see if there were any food, especially baby food.

Blaine couldn't read anything besides his own name, but in the kitchen he found loads of porridge packages, the ones mummy used to have and he knew that if you mixed them with water it became porridge. The first try ended up with an almost watery soup and the next one came out more like his play-doh, but the third one looked better and Blaine ate some of the play-doh porridge and found that it wasn't so bad. The baby seemed to like the third one and ate with gusto. Blaine put the baby in the tub so that it wouldn't crawl away and then he packed as many of the porridge packages as he could fit in his backpack. It meant taking out his fluffy penguin that he had since he was a baby. He looked at the toy, he could probably carry it in his arms when the baby's daddy came home and could take care of the baby.

Blaine waited until it got dark before he realized that no one was coming for the baby. He had changed the baby twice more and fed it again, and the little boy had started to grow on him. Where before he had been thinking about leaving the baby behind he now knew that he couldn't. That meant either staying or going. The sounds of a group of older kids out on the streets were coming closer and that made up his mind. Hurrying Blaine emptied his backpack on the floor and sorted out his precious possessions. Just packing his favourite Superman underwear, a thick sweatshirt and food back in it he filled up the leftover space with diapers. Then he lifted the little boy to his chest and hurried downstairs and out the back as quietly as he could. It was dark outside, the street lights in his road had gone out a long time ago and no one was around to report it anymore. Blaine and the baby hurried across the lawn and into the oppressing darkness of the woods.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, my dear readers, do you like this AU? I would really like some feed back and you can prompt me and I will see where I can fit them in to the story. If there's something you don't like, feel free to tell me, but keep it constructive. Also, I would love to find an Editor/Beta for my stories.**

Kurt was busy reorganizing the cans in the warehouse muttering curses to himself about people who couldn't grab the ones in the front, but for some reason needed to get one from the back of the stack even if they were all identical. Just as he straightened and cracked his back he saw Puck disappearing out through the back door of the warehouse. It didn't occur to Kurt at first, but something was nagging at the back of his brain about the whole situation. It wasn't until Amy, one of Laurens guard or minions as Kurt liked to call them in private, came bursting in the door that the puzzle pieces connected in his head.

"Kurt, have you seen Puck? I need him back at the compound before Lauren returns."

Lauren had tried to negotiate a truce between two tribes who's territories were bordering each others for a while now. The Bats and the Cougars were smallish tribes, but their members fitted the characteristics of their tribe names a little too well. The Cougars were aggressive and did not take no for an answer, while the bats were just bat shit crazy. Every time it came to blows between the two tribes outside their territory Lauren would try to bully them into a peace, but it always ended with her coming back fuming with anger and frustration. That's where Puck came into the picture. How better to calm a fierce woman than letting her take out her frustrations on her favourite plaything. Kurt knew Puck liked it rough, but personally he didn't like the way Lauren treated Puck. The young man was not a dog you could put a leash on and tie up so that he could be there when you came back. Puck had a wild side and was pretty rebellious, but he loved Lauren and Kurt supposed they fit together. They were pretty well tuned into each other which was why it was so strange that Puck was gone awol.

"I don't know, I think I saw him slip out of here a while ago," Kurt said trying to sound indifferent. The amazone looked at him with a suspicious expression, but then she shook herself and left with a growl. Kurt released the breath he had subconsciously been holding. The guard could be very intimidating sometimes even if they had never laid a hand on him.

That night when Kurt came back to the compound he ate his ration of food and then took one of the magazines he had "borrowed" from the warehouse out to read. He almost jumped out of his skin when a dark shape stepped out of the shadows by his room, but relaxed when he saw it was Puck. The older boy was swaying slightly on his feet and there was a distinct smell coming from him.

"Puck, what are you doing here?" Kurt wondered out loud and the older boy guffawed.

"I'm juss wrrr I'm s'posed too," he slurred and let himself collapse next to Kurt on his pallet. The big boy curled up next to Kurt to Kurt's surprise, it wasn't like they were close.

"Kurt, you have to go back to Lauren, you can't stay here," Kurt said and tried to push the bigger boy away from him.

"Rrrright," Puck growled, "Crawl back like a little lap dog." He suddenly didn't sound as drunk as just a minute ago.

"You had a fight?" Kurt asked, and got a growl as an answer.

"She put me on house arrest," Puck admitted sullenly after a moment of silence. Kurt didn't know what to say to that. He didn't think it was right that Lauren felt she could control Puck's movements, it wasn't like the boys didn't have the right to make their own decisions. On the other hand, the Amazones were fierce when it came to loyalty and taking Puck's side over Lauren's was not a wise move, especially if there was a chance word of it came back to Lauren. Kurt just patted Puck's arm and the other boy sighed.

They sat in silence for a while, both staring out in the fast approaching darkness, Kurt's magazine forgotten at his side.

"I don't have much time left," Puck said quietly, startling Kurt out of his thoughts.

"I'll be damned if I stay cooped up in this stinking place until I die." He got to his feet and stared down at Kurt.

"Will you give me a head start?" he asked and Kurt swallowed thickly. He knew that Puck was disobeying a direct order and knowing this that he should alert one of the guards. On the other hand he could sympathise with the older boy. That would be him one day and the notion that someone would direct how he spent his short life, it was too depressing to think about. Coming to a decision he met Puck's gaze.

"I feel really tired," he said and faked a yawn, "I am going to sleep now and I doubt I'll wake until tomorrow morning, and when I do I may remember this strange dream I had about us talking, but it was just a dream. In fact, I haven't seen you since earlier today."

The next morning Kurt woke up to find the place in a state of upheaval and Lauren's voice ringing out through the building. He did what he could to clean himself up, they were out of such luxuries as deodorant but he washed as best he could. Changing his undershirt was as far as he could go when it came to clean clothes, not that his clothes were very dirty compared to others, but something inside Kurt rebelled at putting on yesterday's clothes again.

When he emerged from his room he found the place much quieter and there were just the regular guard present and people who didn't have to work.

"What was the noise about earlier?" Kurt asked the first person he bumped into, and got the story about Puck being missing. Satisfied that he had established that he knew nothing of the disappearance Kurt left to go work at the warehouses just like he did every day.

The next day was Kurt's day off, which basically meant he was bored out of his mind. However, today was different, he noticed it the minute he stepped foot outside his quarters. There was a tension in the air and girls were gathered together in groups, whispering, worried frowns on their faces.

Kurt didn't have to wait long before he found out what was going on. He had planned to have some breakfast, then sneak away and take a stroll on the beach or something, however his plans were disrupted when one of the guards named Kitty hooked her arm through his.

"Okay Hummelicious, you need to do your thing and get Lauren to calm down."

"Me?" Kurt spluttered, but Kitty seemed to have developed an acute case of deafness and just forcibly escorted him to Laurens door.

Lauren had set up her quarters in what used to be the offices of the school. It wasn't the biggest rooms, but they were private and she had both the main office (where she received people and entertained), the vice principals office (bedroom) and the principals office (Kurt didn't know what she used that for and he didn't have enough of a death wish to try and find out).

Kitty knocked rather loudly on the door, something that was needed because someone was playing loud music in there. Without waiting for an answer he opened the door and pushed Kurt through before he could protest.

When he turned away from the door Kurt felt a shock of surprise. The room was in chaos and Lauren was pacing the width of it reminding him of a lion in a cage, waiting for someone to come close enough to charge at the bars.

Putting a hand behind him Kurt tried the door, but it wouldn't budge. That bitch Kitty had locked him in here, great. He observed Lauren for another minute then decided to step up to the lion, so to speak.

"Lauren?"

"That fucking prick, that stupid hormone driven Neanderthal! Why do guys always follow their dicks?" she suddenly shouted at Kurt. In his mind Kurt put two and two together.

"So this is about Puck," he said.

"You're damn right this is about… that son of a bitch," Lauren fumed. "That ass-hat left me for another woman."

"What?" to say that Kurt was surprised was an understatement. "He never… I didn't… who?"

"That little blonde Barbie who leads the Dragons," Lauren spat.

"Quinn!"

There was a moment of silence, Kurt just observed as Lauren seemed to get an idea, but the ugly smile that spread across her face made him doubt that he would like it.

"I'm gonna crush her!" Lauren smiled. " I'm gonna pound her into tiny pieces and her tribe too. She can't just take what's mine and get away with it. This means war!" And with that she burst out the doors (no lock could keep Lauren in) and disappeared down the hallway chanting. Kurt listened in dread as other voices took up the chant. This would not end well.


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is in honour of Cory Monteith. **

Blaine stands alone as he watches the women of the tribe bid farewell to Stag. Starburst is crying, Blaine had never seen her cry before, but she and Stag were so close it's no wonder the Seer is distraught. Stag looms over the women, his great height is something Blaine has always envied him. Now he won't have that anymore. He won't have Stag there to help him become a man, to give him well meaning advice that Blaine will mostly ignore, to laugh with, to go hunting with… to be his friend. Blaine shudders as he can feel the spirit of Death walk past him. The spirit will walk with Stag to the cliff top and together they will continue the journey to the other side.

A hand lands on his shoulder and makes Blaine look up into Stag's brown eyes.

"Let's go," the older boy says, and Blaine slings his bow across his shoulder.

They walk together in silence, Blaine taking small glances at Stag from time to time. It is hard to say what the man is thinking, his face is void of any emotion and Blaine wonders if Stag can feel Death walking with them. When the trees thin out Stag stops and looks down on Blaine.

"Hawk, my brother," he says, and suddenly the two boys fall into each others arms. Blaine cries, he can't help it. He knows he is supposed to be strong as he guides Stag to his end, but he can't hold back anymore. Fighting the tears he can feel Stag shaking as well. This isn't how it is supposed to be they are men now, but Blaine finds he doesn't care. The women got to cry their farewell tears, now it's his turn.

In the end they are cried out and Stag pushes away, a little shameful for breaking down.

"I love you Hawk," he says and places a hand on Blaine's shoulder again. "You have been the best little brother anyone could ask for. Now you're the man of the tribe. Please take care of them Hawk. Please take care of Starburst for me." Blaine closes his eyes and nods, he feels Stag's hand leave his shoulder, but he keeps his eyes closed. '_Do not watch Death in the eye_' he hears Starburst's voice in his head. He is about to turn around and go home when he hears Stag's voice calling out to him.

"Blaine!" He opens his eyes and sees his brother standing there on the precipice, the wind playing in his brown hair.

"Finn!" Blaine shouts, taking a step forward just as his brother takes a step backwards over the edge.

When Blaine arrives home he is greeted by the women of the tribe. Shroom with her extended belly is the first one to embrace him. He places a hand on her belly as he moves to the next one, Vixen. She embraces him as well, and Blaine is handed from woman to woman, each one with an embrace and maybe a kiss to welcome him back, and to welcome back the Man of the tribe. The last one to take him into his arms is Starburst. Blaine knows what is to happen, he watched this when Lynx had taken the last walk and Stag came back alone some years ago. Stag had taken River with him into her hut to comfort her. River had been Lynx's lifemate and the girl had been crushed, just like Starburst was crushed now. Pushing down his own feelings, Blaine takes Starburst's hand and leeds her away.

In the night Blaine wake from a dream shouting Stag's name. He hear Starburst rustle beside him and a soft hand find his.

"Shhh…" the woman says, and Blaine closes his eyes again and tries to fall asleep. However, when he close his eyes he sees Stag stepping over the cliff edge again and again and again. Pushing the image away Blaine finds another image of Stag and holds on to it for dear life.

It was dark, and Blaine had been scared. He didn't know where he was or which way to go. He only knew that he was so incredibly tired in his legs and his arms ached from carrying the baby. He sat down next to a tree to rest his legs for a little bit and darkness took hold of him.

He woke when the baby started to cry. The crying was too far away though and Blaine was suddenly jolted into consciousness.

The baby was nowhere to be seen, but Blaine could hear it.

"Baby?" he shouted, getting to his feet and scanning the woods around him. The baby continued crying and Blaine followed the sounds. When he found the baby however he froze. The baby was surrounded by dogs, wild dogs, Blaine corrected in his mind. There were three of them and they were circling the baby as it tried to crawl away. There were obvious signs that they had been on the baby, his clothes were ripped, but there were no bite marks yet. As Blaine watched the biggest of the dogs lunged forwards again.

"Noooo!" Blaine shouted and burst forwards, only to have the dogs round on him. It was obvious that the animals saw him as a bigger threat than baby, also as a bigger meal. Blaine got scared and started crying. He felt around with his feet but there were no rocks or sticks near him.

"Go away!" he shouted at the dogs, "Go away!"

There was a hissing sound and suddenly one of the dogs slumped to the ground with an arrow in its throat. There was another sound followed by a yelp from one of the other dogs as it was hit as well. The last dog looked around it, but then turned tail and ran into the woods.

Blaine looked at the two dogs on the ground, one dead the other one had an arrow in its flank. He looked around for the shooter and just as he gave up an older boy jumped down from a branch where he had been hiding. The boy was much bigger than Blaine, but not as big as the scary kids that had been on the streets. He had brown hair and kind brown eyes, and he smiled at Blaine.

"Hi!" he said, "don't be scared." Blaine just looked at him and then at the baby who was still whimpering. The older boy strode over and picked up the baby and handed him to Blaine. Then he pulled out a knife, making Blaine's breath catch in fear, but the boy turned to the dog who was still alive and with a swift motion he slit its throat.

"No one deserves to suffer," the boy stated and wiped his knife on some leaves.

"Are you all alone?" he asked Blaine, who just nodded.

"How old are you?"

"Five," Blaine whispered. The boy's face broke into a huge grin.

"I'm almost eleven," he said. "Do you want to come meet my family?"

Blaine couldn't believe his ears, a family, a real family. He must have looked excited because the boy laughed again. Blaine decided he liked his laugh.

"Come on, lets go." The older boy said, he took the baby from Blaine and gave the smaller boy his hand.

"I'm Finn by the way…"


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you readers are enjoying this story. It is a WIP so sometimes I can't update as fast as I want, especially since I'm at university and have essays to write as well. If you are waiting for some Klaine it is just around the corner. Two more chapters before the boys meet, at least that is what I have planned. Please please let me know what you think. Reviews are like hugs to me, and I needs me some hugs. Thank you to the two people who have posted, love ya!**

It wasn't very much fun being Kurt anymore that's for sure. The Amazone had been fighting with the Dragons for weeks now and it made the city a very unpleasant place to live.

When the fighting had started Kurt had effectively lost his freedom of movement. Every time he headed outside the compound he had guards with him to protect him. He had tried to argue with Lauren that he wouldn't step foot outside Amazone territory but the woman was impossible to be reasoned with any more. It didn't help that every day there was another fight somewhere between the two tribes. The Amazones had the highest number of fighter, but the Dragons were tougher than everybody had counted on. Lauren was fuming every night and even if Kurt tried to take her mind off everything he didn't have the same persuasive talents as Puck, not that he ever wanted to touch Lauren that way. Not even the capture of one of the Dragons' boys mellowed her out for more than a minute. The boy was younger than Kurt, maybe 14 if that, and his hair looked like a bunch of tentacles. Kurt had observed him when he had been brought in to the compound before Lauren and the boy had been suspiciously calm. His blue eyes had a far away look in them until he caught sight of Lauren when they had suddenly got a glint of steel in them before going vacant again. Kurt had tried to warn Lauren that the boy was far from harmless, but the woman had just laughed and hugged him.

It was kind of strange how friendly Lauren had got with Kurt after Puck had gone over to the enemy. It was in no way romantically motivated, but it seemed like Lauren wanted a friend, and Kurt didn't mind being that friend. What Kurt did mind was watching his friends suffer over something that was, in the great scheme of things, a trivial thing. People did not deserve to get hurt because Lauren had lost her boy toy. He wasn't involved in any fighting, but he saw the girls come home, some limping, others clutching arms or stomachs, some with bloody rags tied around wounds. It made Kurt angry in a way he had never felt before. Of course talking to Lauren about it was like talking to a wall. She would either pretend she didn't hear him or threaten him with bodily harm if he suggested finding a peaceful solution to the fighting.

In the warehouse Kurt was bored out of his mind. The number of kids coming in to trade had dwindled dramatically as the fighting went on, mostly because the fighting centred around the area where Amazone and Dragon territories bordered up against one another and that had been one of the major thoroughfares into Amazone land.

Kurt had been allocated an assistant, although he wasn't sure if he was teaching the girl to keep the warehouse running or if she was just keeping an eye on him for Lauren. At least there was company in Tina and the girl was surprisingly chatty when he got her to warm up to him. So they would talk, organize and sometimes when they were alone they would sing some of the old songs that Kurt remembered from when he was little. They were childish little tunes, but Kurt loved singing and now he had found someone to share that with. After having worked together for a while Tina shared with Kurt that she was in love with Mike, one of the boys Lauren had dancing at the pleasure house. Kurt felt a stab of jealousy when Tina told him about how she had managed to speak to Mike the night before and how he had let her touch his abs in private. He knew it was stupid to be jealous of what Tina and Mike had, which was nothing really. Lauren wouldn't let any of her boys get involved with anyone on a permanent basis, it was bad for business. It didn't matter though, Kurt irrationally wished he could have something like they had, and told Tina. Which led to a discussion of boys.

"If I couldn't have Mike," Tina said as they restacked tins of beans, "I would probably go for Jake. He is cute, in a puppy dog sort of way." As surreal as the discussion was to Kurt he couldn't help but agree with Tina, although Sam was incredibly good looking too. They kept bantering back and forth until a kid came in and Kurt let Tina deal with him. He decided he would go through the clothing rack again, not that there was anything new there, he just loved the feel of fabric under his fingers. However Kurt didn't get that far before someone grabbed him and dragged him behind a stack of crates. He would have screamed but the person had a hand clapped over his mouth. Kurt wasn't completely without tricks of his own and managed to slam his head back, and the yelp of pain that came from his attacker was pretty satisfactory. Turning to land a kick to whoever it was, Kurt's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Puck!" he exclaimed.

"Shhh," the other boy said rubbing his chin. Checking on Tina's whereabouts Kurt saw the coast was clear and, grabbing hold of Puck's hand, pulled him out the back door.

"What the hell are you doing here Puck?"

"I need to talk to Lauren, Hummel, but since that would probably lead to my castration I need you to be a go between."

Kurt couldn't believe his own ears.

"You want me to talk to Lauren for you! Did it occur to you that I may be fond of my own… balls," he ended less ferociously than he started.

"Please," Puck scoffed, "she loves you, she will never hurt you."

"Funny," Kurt retorted, "I would have said the same about you until you snuck off with another woman. What the hell were you thinking, Puck?"

The older boy got a strange look on his face. If Kurt didn't know Puck and his aversion to emotion he would say the boy looked happy.

"I had to go Kurt. I… she's having a baby Kurt, my baby." For the second time Puck managed to surprise Kurt into silence, although this time there was no hand covering his mouth.

"Wow," Kurt said after a while. "Are you sure?"

Puck just nodded.

"That's amazing… and frightening. What if something happens, its not like we have hospitals and doctors anymore."

Puck rubbed a hand through his Mohawk.

"Don't you think I know that. I'm scared shitless here. That's why I need to talk to Lauren, I have to stop them fighting. Quinn needs to take care of herself and the baby, not set up ambushes and go on about infiltrating…" the tall boy clapped a hand over his mouth.

"I shouldn't have said that," he said sheepishly.

Kurt just stared at him. This was a different Puck than the one he had known, this one was more alive, more impulsive, but at the same time he seemed like he had more to loose too.

"I'll help you," Kurt said. "I hate the fighting and I think the whole thing is stupid. However, I don't think you should go near Lauren right now, I'll try and talk to her."

Puck just nodded in agreement.

"So Joe," Kurt continued, "spy or just simply creepy as hell?"

"I'm not sure," Puck said. "I don't know of any spy being sent in, and I don't think Quinn would have picked Joe for that anyway. He is to much of a pacifist."

Kurt nodded.

"Good… Well, I'd better get back before Tina gets suspicious. How can I get in touch with you Puck?"

"Just leave that to me," Puck said and turned to go. "Oh and Kurt, no oogling my baby brother, okay."

So Kurt was left standing speechless for a third time as Puck disappeared around a corner.

Of course talking to Lauren wasn't the most easy thing. Every time Kurt tried to be subtle and get the conversation to the subject of Puck or the fighting she would keep avoiding it. In the end he got fed up and decided that there was nothing wrong with trying the direct approach. He probably would have stalled longer if it wasn't for the fact that four Amazone's didn't come home from the last skirmish with the Dragons.

"Lauren!" Kurt shouted as he pushed open the doors to Laurens rooms. "You need to hear what I have to say and you need to hear it now."

The leader just turned from where she had been studying the map of the city and watched him with an expressionless face.

"You need to put a stop to the fighting right now," Kurt said. "Just because your feelings got hurt it doesn't justify other people getting killed. This has gone too far, and over such a petty thing as some boy!"

Lauren just looked at him.

"I spoke to Puck…" Kurt said, and that got him a reaction.

"You've seen Puck? Why isn't he back here then? You should have captured the traitor!"

Even with Lauren shouting at him Kurt had to laugh.

"Have you seen me… I'm half the size of Puck, how would I ever bring him back here by force. Besides that, I never would have forced him back here even if I could."

Of course that was the wrong thing to say. Lauren's eyes narrowed and her face suddenly got stony.

"So you are a traitor too, Hummel. After everything I have done for you."

Kurt couldn't believe he was hearing this.

"Of course not, I just… I don't agree with every single thing you say that's all," he finished meekly.

"So maybe you're not a traitor Hummel, but that sure sounds like disloyalty to me. I can't afford having people around me that cannot take an order, not while we are at war."

An uneasy feeling settled in Kurt's stomach. He didn't think Lauren would dispose of him, but then he had never thought she was power hungry enough to start a war over a boy either.

"What are you going to do to me?" Kurt said, dreading the answer.

"I'm going to send you somewhere where you're not a liability," Lauren said, and Kurt wasn't sure if the small smile playing on her lips was a bad or a good thing.

"If you send me away, who's going to look after the warehouse," he protested.

"Tina, of course," Lauren said, "even you yourself have said that she is very good at her job." Kurt wanted to punch himself for ruining what made him special and valuable to the tribe.

"So…where am I going?"

"I think I'll send you out to one of my farms," Lauren said with a glint in her eye. "I can imagine what kind of torture it would be for you to have to dig around in the dirt all day."

Kurt just groaned.

As he spent his last night on his pallet, he wondered what Puck would think when he tried to get back in touch with Kurt, only to find that he was gone. He needed to get a message to the older boy, but how. Kurt couldn't fall asleep, he just lay on his back staring out into the darkness. It wasn't until his eyes almost fell shot that he started to his feet. _'Of course, how could he have been so stupid.'_ Jake, Jake was the solution to his problem. At least he could tell the boy that he had talked to his brother and let him take it from there. Opening his door carefully Kurt sneaked out into the hallway and as quietly as he could he made his way to the "boys'" quarters.

Like most places in the compound, it was dark in the boys' room. Kurt had never been in here before and he basically froze as soon as he had shut the door after him. For a moment he felt like he was starting to panic, because he really shouldn't be in here, but then he managed to get his breathing under control. Putting a hand in his pocket Kurt dug out the miniature led flashlight that he had stolen from the warehouse. It was as small as his thumb and shone with a bluish glow. He let the light travel over the room and the first thing he saw was a blond head sticking out from a pile of blankets… Sam. Over by the windows he saw who had to be Jake asleep, one of his legs dangling over the side of his pallet. Kurt carefully made his way over to the younger boy and crouched down by his head. He was sleeping on his back, so putting the flashlight on the ground Kurt gently put a hand over his mouth and used his other hand to shake the younger boy awake. Not that much shaking was needed. As soon as his hand was on Jake's shoulder the other boy woke with a start, dislodging Kurt's hand and Kurt himself from the bed he where he had perched.

"What the fuck!" Jake exclaimed, loudly enough that the others woke up and a light came on over by the other side of the room. Mike was standing there looking slightly bewildered from Kurt on the floor to Jake, and then at Sam who was trying to scrub sleep from his face with the palms of his hands.

"Kurt! What the fuck!"

"I never asked him to come here."

"Will you be quiet," Kurt hissed, "and turn the torch down or people will wonder why you're up in the middle of the night."

Mike turned the torch down and came closer.

"What are you doing here, Kurt," he said, always the calm one.

"I wanted to talk to Jake," Kurt said, "in private."

Jake looked confused, but he seemed to have calmed down.

"Look," he said, "I'm really flattered and all, but I'm really not…"

"Shut up Jake!" Mike hissed, then he turned to Kurt again. "This is about Puck isn't it."

Kurt nodded.

"I spoke to him one day down at the warehouse. Long story short, he is in love with Quinn, the leader of the Dragons…"

"We know!" the three guys said.

"Uhm… do you also know that she is pregnant?"

Three stunned faces looked back at him.

"Well, Puck wanted me to talk to Lauren about ending the fighting, he is thinking about the baby. I promised to help but now Lauren is angry with me and shipping me off to one of the farms. I thought I'd let Jake know since you're his brother…"

The other boys nodded, serious expressions on their faces.

"Puck won't be able to find me, and I can't help him from where I am going. I don't know what you guys think about the whole thing, but at least now someone here knows the whole story and well, maybe you can do something. I don't know…" Kurt finished despairingly.

The four boys looked at each other silently until Sam shrugged and moved over to his pile of blankets.

"I'll see what I can do," Mike said quietly.

Jake nodded.

"You should probably get out of here," he said to Kurt.

Kurt felt around on the floor until he found his mini flashlight and then made his way over to the door. As stealthily as possible he let himself out into the corridor and headed back to his room. He was nearly there when Kitty stepped out from around a corner.

"What are you doing wandering the halls at night?" she said with a smirk. "Not trying to get away are you Kurtie, before our little trip tomorrow?"

"No," Kurt shook his head, silently cursing over the information that Kitty would be guarding him tomorrow on the long trek to the farm. "I just had to use the bathroom." The blonde guard gave him a suspicious look, but then she waved him off. Letting himself into his room Kurt swallowed down a lump in his throat. He wasn't made for these kind of covert operations.


End file.
